Tag Archives: lasagna

Can I appoint myself Loryn the Lasagna Queen, or is that bad form? I really love making lasagna! The more I make it, the easier I find it to be. Make a sauce of some kind, layer it with no-boil noodles and cheese, and bake until it’s bubbly. Simple. No-boil noodles are the secret. They remove an annoying step from the whole process, and I don’t think anyone can tell the difference. You just have to make sure the sauce you are using has enough liquid to cook the noodles, and make sure you take that sauce all the way out to the edges so you don’t end up with a crispy, uber-al dente edge. That would just be a pity. I’ve made several delicious lasagnas using this method, and they are always crowd-pleasers. Check them out on the blog if you haven’t already…Tuscan Lasagna, Buffalo-Ranch Chicken Lasagna, and Mega-Meaty Pizza Lasagna. Today I took my love for lasagna in a new direction and tried my first Mexican version. It was incredible. Cheesy, spicy, and tangy…all of the flavor profiles you expect from Mexican food, but all wrapped up in a lasagna. So fun!

This Cheesy Chicken Mexican Lasagna could not have been easier to throw together. It really took me only 20-25 minutes to have the whole thing in the oven. You can’t beat that when it comes to homemade lasagna!

I boiled three chicken breasts until they were cooked through, and then shredded them up. Combined the chicken with a jar of salsa verde, fire-roasted green chiles, queso quesadilla cheese, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Then I layered that Mexicany-goodness with the no-boil noodles, Crema Mexicana, more queso quesadilla cheese, and Monterrey jack cheese. Repeat, repeat, and keep repeating until you run out of the chicken mixture. Then top the whole thing with all of the remaining cheese and bake. Now you can call yourself the Lasagna Queen…or King. Serve this next time you have a hankering for Mexican but are over tacos and burritos. It has all of the flavors of your favorite Mexican restaurant, but with an unexpected twist. You’ll love it!

Season chicken with salt and pepper and boil until cooked through. Shred.

In a bowl, season shredded chicken with cilantro, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Stir in fire roasted green chilies, salsa verde and one cup of the Queso Quesadilla and 1/2 cup of jack cheese. Combine well.

In the bottom of a baking dish, spread a small amount of the chili-chicken mixture.

Top with layer of lasagna noodles. Spread with another layer of the chicken mixture, making sure to go all the way to the edge with the liquid. Pour Crema Mexicana over the entire layer, again paying close attention to the edges. Top with a layer of shredded jack and Queso Quesadilla.

A few weeks ago my mother-in-law celebrated her 50th Birthday in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. It was an awesome week with my husband’s family. We rented a super cool beach house and kept it very low key. We ate in every night, played board games and celebrated 50 years of a very special lady. Really good times. For me, part of the fun was being the family chef for the week. As long as I’ve been in the family, I’ve never had the opportunity to really cook for them night after night. Sure, there have been meals here and there, but this was the first time I was able to hold them captive in the kitchen for an entire week. It was awesome!! We had burgers made with a combination of beef and bacon, biscuits with homemade sausage gravy, a good old fashioned low-country boil, steamed King Crab legs with drawn butter, a GIGANTIC mexican fiesta, and last but not least, my Mega Meaty Pizza Lasagna.

I have a few different lasagna recipes in my repertoire. One recipe I was given while visiting Italy and another that has become a huge hit on Pinterest, my Buffalo Ranch Chicken Lasagna. Both are great, but I knew neither would cut it as our first dinner at the beach. I needed to kick things up a notch to make sure this hungry bunch of meat-eaters left the table feeling satisfied. That’s when I recalled a lasagna recipe I’d seen from a cookbook my mother-in-law gave me that included ground beef, ground sausage and pepperoni. PEPPERONI! IN LASAGNA!! Yes, please! Taking that concept I added some ideas of my own and hit a serious home run. My family loved it and couldn’t get enough. I made it again a few days ago for some friends and heard more than once that it was the best lasagna they had ever tasted. I credit the pepperoni, it really does the job.

I wanted to share this easy recipe with you because if you’re anything like me, you would love to be known for your amazing, meaty, decadent, cheesy, pepperoni-laced lasagna. Is there anything better to be known for? Enjoy!!

It’s Super Bowl time! You have the perfect excuse to scroll through your pins on Pinterest and choose a few super unhealthy, extremely decadent dishes to serve to family and friends during the big game. Hooray!! Trust me, I’ve been there and done that. A few years ago when Pinterest first hit the scene I had a Super Bowl spread that you could gain five pounds just looking at. It was intense…and delicious. This year I was thinking about trying to replicate my mother-in-law’s hot wings, but I just can’t bring myself to go through the whole deep-frying ordeal. Such a mess. Then I remembered something I actually saw on Pinterest myself a few days ago- Buffalo Chicken Lasagna.

Interesting.

I read the recipe and it actually sounded pretty good…hot sauce, blue cheese, white cheddar, pasta…what’s not to love? I made some changes and additions and came up with what I think it a pretty amazing combo. I personally love dipping my hot wings in ranch dressing, not blue cheese, so I added some “ranchy” herbs and spices to the sauce to really drive home my favorite hot wing flavors. If you want to mix up your game this year, give this one a shot. It’s a crowd pleaser and it won’t leave your kitchen with a layer of oil coating your appliances and countertops. Or if you must, go for the gold and put all those pins of yours to good use. At least you have a good excuse. 🙂

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, celery and carrot and cook until softened. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute more.

Add the can of diced tomatoes, bottle of wing sauce, dried parsley, dried dill, onion powder and garlic powder. Stir in chicken and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low, cooking for 20 minutes or up to an hour.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine beaten egg, ricotta cheese and blue cheese. Mix well and season with salt and pepper.